Pick Up Lines
by AKApolarbear
Summary: "Are you looking up Russian pick-up lines?"


"…Are you looking up Russian pick-up lines?"

Zack yelped and felt a rush of blood warm his face and ears. His body went into automatic panic mode, with one hand going to cover his computer screen and the other fumbling for his mouse. As he hurriedly made the move to minimize his current window, he glanced back at his sister and shouted, "N…no!"

Ivy didn't even bother to hide her teasing smile as she crossed her arms. "You _are_, aren't you?"

Her brother swung his seat around to face her, trying to mask his embarrassment with a veil of anger. "Am not!" He huffed, crossed his arms, and attempted to bury his face in his chest. How had she even gotten in his room without him hearing, anyway?

"I can't believe it." Ivy was now openly beaming and Zack wanted nothing more to disappear. Either that, or for a well timed distraction to make itself known. If there was ever a time when he actually wanted Carmen Sandiego to make off with one of the world's priceless treasures, it was now. However, no such luck, and his sister continued. "My little brother has a _girlfriend_."

"Tatiana is not my girlfriend!" he blurted out without thinking, and now a treacherous part of his mind began to wander, thinking of her cute foreign accent and the way her icy blue eyes sparkled in the light. If he were alone, he would've welcomed the drifting thoughts with open arms, but in his current situation, they were unneeded and unwanted. Great, he mentally lamented. First his sister, now his own brain. Maybe this was some form of sick, twisted karma; payback for all those times he had made fun of Ivy's crush on Tom Cruise.

"Okay, fair enough." she answered in a tone that felt much less mocking. "She's not your girlfriend." Zack felt a wave of relief wash over him; for once in his life, he was actually _happy_ that his sister was going to take something seriously. Any other time, he would gladly enjoy the fact that Ivy was in a fairly light-hearted mood. Any other time that didn't involve his not-however-possibly-future-girlfriend as the butt of the joke, that is. "…But you _do_ like her."

He made his displeasure quite vocal with a loud groan and he buried his face into his hands for a brief moment before throwing them up into the air in exasperation. "_Ivy!_" Were the situation different, Zack probably would've been highly bothered by the way his voice had just cracked, but in his current state, he couldn't bring himself to care. Fourteen year old boys could only suffer so much embarrassment brought on by the side effects of puberty all at once, especially when girls happened to be involved.

"Alright, alright!" Ivy held her hands up in a way to show that she had finally had her fill of teasing. "I'm done. For real this time."

After the last fake-out, Zack was wary. "…Alright. Thank you." He paused for a second to search his sister's face for any sign that she might try any more of her bad taste jokes. When he felt safe enough that she had already had her fun, he posed the question that should've been one of the first things he asked. "…Why are you in my room?"

"I was going to order out for dinner." It was almost funny how fast Zack's mindset could change sometimes. While he had just been embarrassed out of his mind a few moments prior, the moment he heard the word 'dinner', he was made painfully aware of just how hungry he was. Suddenly, food sounded a lot better than whatever "get back at Ivy" payback prank he had in mind. "You in the mood for pizza?"

"When _aren't_ I in the mood for pizza?" Yup, payback prank would definitely have to be put on the backburner for now; pizza held top priority in his mind.

"Pepperoni and extra cheese sound good to you?"

"Yeah, sounds great!"

"Alright, I'll call you downstairs when it gets here." She told him over her shoulder as his left his room.

The thought of fresh pizza with gooey warm cheese was tantalizing, sure, but once Ivy was out of his room, Zack turned back to his computer. He glanced to his door once to make sure that his sister was really gone and then brought up the window that he had minimized once more. He cleared his throat and gently swiped his bangs back, smiling oddly at his computer screen. "Tatiana, uh…tam dolzhno byt' chto-to ne tak s moimi glazami, potomu, chto ya ne mogu prin'at' ih s vami."

"I _knew_ it!" he heard his sister shout from the hall and the last half the Russian phrase died in his throat.

"_Ivy!_"


End file.
